Lake Metonga vs Little Rice Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lake Metonga has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Little Rice Lake (B, Good). Both are in Forest County, Wisconsin.
Lake Metonga and Little Rice Lake are both in Wisconsin — a same-state head-to-head where the comparison comes down to lake-specific differences in depth, watershed, and monitoring history rather than the broader state-level water-quality regime. The grades are close: Lake Metonga (A) and Little Rice Lake (B) are within one letter of each other on the LakeGrade rubric. The per-parameter sub-grades below will show where the small differences actually live.
With grades this close, the choice between the two lakes turns on non-water-quality factors: depth, fish species, public access, distance from home. The per-lake pages below cover all of those.
Lake Metonga
Crystal clear, you can see 22 ft down.
Little Rice Lake
No clarity data.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Lake Metonga | Little Rice Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | B (Good) |
| Water Clarity | 22 ft | No data |
| Phosphorus | 14 µg/L | 22 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 79 ft | 10 ft |
| Surface Area | 2.0K acres | 1.2K acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Lake Metonga wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Little Rice Lake's Grade B. For fishing diversity, Lake Metonga also leads with 0 species.